Improvement in steasvi or water pressure regulators



J. lE.v WATTS. e e ff-"Steam 0r water Pressure Regulator.

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THE GRAPHIC C0.PHOTD.LITH.39&4! PARK PLACE, N.Y.

JOSEPH E. WATTS, OF LAWRENCE, MASSACHUSETTS.

`litlPRCBVENZENT IN STEAM OR WATER PRESSURE REGULATORS.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 161,917, dated April13, 1875; application filed March 1, 1875. I

ToL all whom yit may concern:

Be it known that I, Josnrn E. WATTS, of Lawrence, Essex county,Massachusetts, have invented certain Improvements in- Steam or WaterPressure Regulators, of which the following is a spccitication:

rIhese improvements relate to pressure-regulators which governautomatically the supply ot tluid which is delivered through avalve,theamount of duid delivered being governed by 1 the amount requisite to dothe work required ot' it, the class ot' regulators to which my presentinvention appertains being that in which the stem ot' the valve issupported at bottom upon an elastic diaphragm and connected with anadjustable lever, which, in turn, is operated by the mechanism which theiuid acts upon, in such manner that the valve is operated to open orclose, accordingto the amount ot' Huid required.

A notable instance of the class of regulators to which my presentimprovements relate is seen in Letters Patent of the United Statesissued to me on the 6th day of January, 1874.

These improvements consist in shutting oft communication between theHuid-chamber of the valve and the condensed-water well below, andcreating iu the case or column of such valve, and immediately over thebody ot' water in such well, an orice, with which I connect a pipe thatcommunicates with the main service or distributing` pipe or conduit,into which the valve discharges, the arrangement and opera- JLion ofthese additions being as hereinafter stated.

The drawings accompanying this specification represent, in Figure l, avertical section, and in Fig. 2 a horizontal section, of apressure-regulator valve containing my invention.

In these drawings, A represents the case of my valve, which, in generalform. resembles an ordinary globe-valve, the inlet-port of such casebeing shown at B, and its eduction or discharge port at C. Within thecenter of the case A is cast a pocket or hollow boss, D, pierced at topand bottom with valve-ports E and F, of equal area, while playing withinthese ports, and opening or closing the same, is a vertical valve, G,which is balanced to the pressure of steam, in order that the'pulsationsof the elastic diaphragm, hereinafter alluded to, which supports thevalve, may readily 4and surely raise or lower the latter. The well-tubeof the instrument,which the case A surmount-S, is shown at H as avertical pipe, which usually is about fullof condensewater, thelowermouth or diaphragm-chamber A otl this tube being closed by an elasticdiaphragm7 I, ot' suitable material, such diaphragm being confined inposition by an annular cap-plate or ring,J, which is screwed to thebottom of the tube by a series ot screws, k 7c, Ste., placed equidistantfrom one another, in order that the plate and the lever carried by itmay be moved upon the tube a distance equal to the space between two ormore screws. The valve-rod depends vertically from the valve G, as shownat K in the drawings, and is confined at its lower end to the elastichorizontal diaphragm I, before named, and passes through a horizontalshelf', L, or bridge, or its equivalent, which closes the lower part ofthe well H, and shuts 0H, to a great extent, communication between suchwell and the dialiihragm-chamber A, the saidl shelf serving as a guideto insure a correct vertical position of the valve and stem, and preventany side motion or unsteadiness ot' the same, whereby a perfectly freemovement is obtained, and wear upon the parts obviated. The shelf L alsoserves to protect the diaphragm from thrusts and shocks resulting fromthe back pressure upon the water-well. N in the accompanying drawingrepresents a horizontal lever, whose fulcrum O is a pendent stud, P,hanging from the cap-plate 'J be! fore named, the base of the leverbeing pivoted to the upper part of a forked swivel, Q,

whose lower end is, in turn, pivoted to and' within a i'urcatedthinible, R, the upper end of such thimble inclosin g a tenon, S,depending from the lower nut T, which contines the valvestem to thediaphragm, a pin, U, being passed through the thimble and stud tocontine them together, the lever being provided with an adjustableweight, V.

In carrying my present improvements into y practice, I close the upperpart of the well H by a horizontal shelf, c, which, in addition toclosing the top of such well, constitutes also a guide or bearing forthe valve-stem K. I then create in the well-tube H an orifice, b, whichcommunicates with its interior, and I place this orifice preferably atthe extreme upper part of thewell-tube, as shown, in order that aconsiderable column of water may stand over the diaphragm to protect it.Any small amount of steam which may creep through the joint between thevalve-stem and shelf a will be condensed in the well H, or escapethrough the orifice b. I next provide a pipe, c, which I connect at oneend with the orifice b, and the other end of this pipe, whatever thedistance traversed by such-pipe may be, is connected with the interiorof the service or supply pipe or drum, from which the various branchpipes are taken that supply the driers with steam, and which supply-pipeis supplied through the valve A. rIhe point at which the pipe cintersects the supply-pipe may be varied according to circumstances; butI prefer to place such pipe c at the end of such supply-pipe most remotefrom the valve, as by so doing I govern my valve from this point, and amenabled to maintain a uuiform pressure throughout such supply-pipe. Wewill suppose a regulator-valve, with my present improvementsadded,adapted to heat a stack of cylinder-driers, such as are generallyemployed in print-works, in which case the valve delivers steam to ageneral delivery pipe or drum, from which branch pipes depart to thevarious drier-cylinders, the valve being weighted, for instance, tooperate at an average pressure of fifteen pounds to the square inch.Heretofore, as more or less cloths are led over the driers, or suchcloths contain a greater or less degree of moisture, the pressure ofsteam in the drum varies very greatly, and oftentimes much blows oi' atthe safetyvalve of such drum, and is wasted. In my invention, should thepressure in the service pipe or drum fall below the maximum of fteenpounds, the pressure upon the column of water in the well H and thediaphragm I will be lowered to such an extent that the lever N partiallyovercomes the pressure, and raises 'therodK-and valve G, and admits anincreased amount of steam to the drum until its maximum pressure isrestored. Should such pressure exceed the proper point, the steam withinsuch drum passes through the pipe cinto the well H, and, by exerting itspressure upon the body of water within such well, and through this waterupon the diaphragm, will distend the latter outward, and, by loweringthe valve-stem K and valve G, partially close the latter, and reduce theamount of steam admitted through it to the distributing-drum. M yapparatus thus becomes self-operati n g and continuous, and, in additionto saving much waste of steam, I gain other important ad vantages.

It will he seen that by my construction of parts I dispense withstuiing-boxes about the valve-stem, which is a matter of importance, asthe waste of power required to overcome the friction of an ei'ectivestuifing-box would present a very serious drawback to the points ofeconomy claimed for my improvement. When a portion of the supply ofsteam which is admitted to the service pipe or drum is obtained, as isfrequently the case, from the exhaust of the engine that drives thedrier, the utility of my present improvement is seen to great advantage,as, by placing the pipe c at the point at which the exhaust-pipeintersects the said service-pipe, I govern the valve or regulator by thepressure at this point, thereby maintaining a uniform back pressure uponthe engine, and insuring aunit'orm and steady motion of the latter. I amenabled to dry cloths more uniformly and desirably than heretofore, andto maintain uniform temperature and pressure in the steaming-boxesemployed to set the colors of prints in such instances, as myimprovement is adapted to this labor. Heretofore the pressure of steamwithin the distributing pipe or drumhas been governed by the valve, andhence the various changes of this pressure are communicated to the valveindirectly and slowly. By my improvement, in which I regulate andcontrol this pressure from the drum itself, I obtain very greatadvantages. I also, to a great extent, protect the elastic diaphragmfrom the thrusts and strains towhich it has heretofore been liable inmany regulators of this class, as in mine steam is shut off from directaction upon the water in the well H, from the chamber of the valve, andcan only get access tosuch well by an indirect routefrom thedistributingdrum through the pipe c. By means of the oritice b, I canget access to the valve-stem to insert a pin within the hole o', createdin such stem, in order to prevent the latter from rotating when the nutupon its lower end is applied or removed; and this orifice also be'-comes available as a means of readily attaching a steam-gage, should itbe desirable so to do.

Although I have explained my invention as applicable mainly todia-phrag:n-regulators, it is equally applicable to piston or otherregulators.

I claim- In a steam or' water pressure regulator, as described, thecombination, with the regulating-valve, the duid-chamber A, and thewelltube H, ofthe closing diaphragm or partition a and the pipe o,leading from the distributing pipe or drum, and entering the welltubebelow the diaphragm a, substantially as and for the purposes set forth.

JOSEPH E. WATTS.

Witnesses:

FRED. CURTIS, W. E. BOARDMAN.

